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Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Gold!

I realize I have been running more than my share of "look what I got" posts recently. But it's the giving-and-receiving season and people are giving and receiving. A LOT.

I'm receiving card packages like it's 2009 again. The poor old card desk can't keep up with the two-packages-a-day rate, and I'm scrambling to make it presentable before company arrives. So that's why I'm doing what I'm doing. But besides that, it's the giving and receiving season! It's the thing to do, everyone! You think anyone wants to read about how many cards I found of players with bad teeth three days from Christmas? I don't. I sure as hell don't have time for the research.

So here we are at a package from All Trade Bait All The Time. Oscar doesn't really feature all trade bait all the time on his blog. It's mostly Dodgers he received, games he saw and beer he drank. But, I'm not showing any night owls on cards on my blog either. It's just a title.

Oscar got creative and sent a Christmas package almost entirely filled with gold-themed cards. Considering gold has been a staple of baseball cards since the 1990s began, gold cards aren't hard to find. But I was still impressed with the amount and variety.

There were so many different kinds that I decided to rank them by preference. (I still have time to rank things!)

And I'm going to use world-famous prospector Yukon Cornelius to help me out. The more Yukons you see, the better I like those kinds of gold cards.

Let's see some shiny:

Gold-bordered parallel cards.

To me, this is about the best kind of gold card you can have. The gold isn't all over the set, and the gold doesn't interfere with the photo either. It's tucked away on the border. I like it.

Four Yukons.

Gold parallel cards (non-border-only version)

There have been a whole bunch of these over the years. They were all the rage for a good while, too. I've been bored by them for a long time. Too much gold. Way too much gold. As Yukon would say, "Unmush, will ya?"

Two Yukons.

Gold-accented cards.

Probably the way gold cards should be. Some of the best sets -- like Masterpieces -- feature gold accenting. It's classy. Just take a look at your Christmas ornaments.

Three Yukons.

Gold sets.

Not the way to go. I don't like sets where gold is featured on every card. It's pretentious. And, yes, a card set can be pretentious. Just look at the card set names: Elite, Ultimate, Suprerme.

One Yukon.

So, the winner is the gold-bordered parallel. If you're going to go gold, keep it to the border. Because that's gold, Jerry, gold!

But actually, there is one other kind of gold card that is better than all these others.

Gold cards that I need!

Those are the best gold cards ever.

I give them ...

25 Yukons.

I would have given it 49 Yukons, but I have a card desk that needs some help.